How Children Are Affected By Food Allergies

In years past, food allergies were not nearly as prevalent as they are today. Today, many children and adults have very serious food allergies. Some have one food allergy and others have many. People have allergies to very specific items, like strawberries, as well as broad items, like gluten. Unfortunately, there are many food allergies that are dangerous and even potentially fatal to children. Here are some ways that children are affected by their food allergies.
At School
Children with food allergies are affected very much so in their schools. If a child has a food allergy to peanuts, this can be a life threatening condition. Years ago, the child was simply made to deal with this on his or her own. Because such food allergies have been growing in intensity in the recent years, some schools have made the drastic and extremely difficult effort to become completely peanut free schools. These schools do not sell items that contain peanuts, they do not make peanut items in their cafeteria, and they do not allow other students to bring in food items that contain peanuts. While this may seem extreme and harsh to non allergic students, students with a food allergy to peanuts could be killed by the air born particles from a peanut product.
Some schools, however, have not gotten completely on board with a peanut free environment. These schools do sometimes attempt to help the student with a food allergy though. These schools allow for a peanut free table in the lunchroom. This is a table where only children who have peanut free lunches can sit. While this may seem like a great idea and a great compromise, it is simply isolating a child with a food allergy from the rest of the class. Some have argued that this goes against the concept of least restrictive environment as laid out by recent educational laws. A child with a food allergy should not have to be isolated from the rest of the class and their friends during lunchtime.
At Home
If you have a child with a food allergy, you try to do anything you can to avoid a food allergy symptom. Food allergy symptoms can include vomiting, diarrhea, swelling, hives, and even anaphylactic shock and death. The home front is also a battleground for child food allergies in that you have to be very diligent in keeping your child safe from contaminated foods. In some instances, it becomes necessary for the entire family to cut the allergen out from their diet.
A child faces a constant battle when diagnosed with an extreme food allergy like peanuts or gluten. Do your part to become educated and aware.